Most state registration boards in the United States require an applicant for licensure to have graduated from a NAAB-accredited program, obtaining such a degree is an essential aspect of preparing for the professional practice of architecture. While graduation from a NAAB-accredited program does not assure registration, the accrediting process is intended to verify that each accredited program substantially meets those standards that, as a whole, comprise an appropriate education for an architect.
Students who complete this BS Arch degree and enroll in the MArch program will be able to complete the MArch degree in two years, whereas individuals who hold other undergraduate degrees may take up to 3½ years to complete the MArch program.
The NAAB has established 32 Student Performance Criteria (SPCs) that all graduates of an accredited professional program (such as an MArch) must satisfy. Students graduating with the BS Arch degree will satisfy 19 of the 32 criteria embedded in the MArch degree. The remaining 13 criteria would be acquired as part of the MArch degree.
While these 19 criteria are particular to the accreditation process, they are also the learning outcomes necessary for a well-rounded undergraduate education for students wishing to pursue careers in design, construction, real estate and other related professions. The student learning goals of the program will also allow its graduates to pursue many other options for graduate study, or careers in related and other fields.
The curriculum emphasizes:
- the development of the critical, analytical, interpretive and creative abilities that are essential to engaging and effectively addressing the diverse bodies of knowledge that define architecture’s realm and its practices
- the use of design thinking as a highly effective means for dealing with complex situations, and will ask students to respond to design issues and situations that are often in conflict through analysis, interpretation, reason, argumentation and proof with both precision and accuracy
- the ability to analyze, interpret, organize, arrange and manipulate various bodies of knowledge
- understanding and being able to apply appropriate methodologies
Required Credits: 120 minimum credits to graduate
- 49 credits outside the ARCH prefix
o 37 required
o 12 elective
- 71 credits carrying the ARCH prefix
o 54 required
o 17 elective
Four areas of study
The curriculum is organized around four areas of study:
Design Studies - 27 credits
The complex process of analysis, interpretation, definition and conclusion
- ARCH 1110: Design Studio I
- ARCH 3110: Design Studio II
- ARCH 3120: Design Studio III
- ARCH 4110: Design Studio IV
- ARCH 4120: Design Studio V
Cultural Studies - 9 credits
Unique mode of inquiry (historiography) with particular methodologies for analyzing, organizing, categorizing, interpreting and delivering information about the designed environment’s past
- ARCH 1110: Introduction to Architecture and Urbanism
- ARCH 2230: Architectural History I
- ARCH 3230: Architectural History II
Technical Studies - 18 credits
Scientific methodologies
- ARCH 3130: Construction Practices I
- ARCH 3430: Construction Practices II
- ARCH 3330: Building Systems I
- ARCH 3130: Building Systems II
- ARCH 3130: Theory of Structures I
- ARCH 3130: Theory of Structures II
General Studies - 12 credits
A range of the arts and sciences that constitute a liberal education, grounding the students in a diverse set of modes of thinking that prepare them for upper division studies in the disciplinary part of the program
The same subject matter may be examined in two study area courses using two different methodologies. The question of sustainability, for instance, may be addressed from four very different perspectives - that of the historian, the scientist, the designer or the scholar - depending on the particular focus of the question and the methods of inquiry used.
There are one or more required introductory courses in each area of study, complemented by a number of intermediate and advanced courses that emphasize the analytical, interpretive, critical and creative methodologies particular to an area.